


Discomfort: Nelli's Epilogue

by Falt



Category: LA by Night, Vampire: The Masquerade
Genre: Found Family, Nelli is great and deserves the world, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), mention of murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 00:51:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16943898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falt/pseuds/Falt
Summary: Nelli's past. Spoilers for L.A. By Night Episode 9: Black Magic.





	Discomfort: Nelli's Epilogue

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Cynthia Marie and Jason Carl for a wonderful episode this week!

“I love causing Chaz discomfort. It’s what I live for.” The vitriol is evident under Nelli’s cheery, nonchalant tone as she flips her hair over her shoulder with an elegant flick of her wrist. But Abrams is right. She hadn’t always hated him. Quite the contrary—Nelli had adored Chaz, both before and after her embrace.

They’d met in a nightclub in San Francisco. Nelli was fresh out of university with a degree in fashion design, struggling to pay rent, put out new designs, and save up to move to Los Angeles. Her days were spent waitressing, and her nights spent hunched over her sewing table, putting together designs that were modeled by her friends on the weekend in hopes that someone with enough pull would notice.

Nelli was gifted, and it would have only been a matter of time before her career took off. Chaz got to her first. It was in a nightclub one August; Nelli and three of her friends were out celebrating a birthday. She herself was dressed to the nines in a design she had recently completed and in which she held a great deal of pride.

Chaz had found her on the dance floor, a few choice flatteries whispered in her ear as he brought her to his private room. He lavished her with drinks and allowed her to feel the ecstasy of his fangs. She was enamored completely, barely able to reply with more than a nod when he requested that she return the next week.

He’d done his research. That next night, the Toreador reeled her in with promises of fame, fortune, and the company of beautiful, successful people. He smiled at her in a way she longed for; her attempts to kickstart her career had left any dating life by the wayside. A final promise of perpetual, eternal youth prevented her from voicing any doubts. In her head, she imagined building an empire at his side. The pain of the embrace was merely a temporary obstacle in the way of glory.

It took a while for Nelli to realize just how little Chaz cared for her in comparison to how she felt for him.  
Even before Donna, it had started to become apparent. How her interests were flippantly dismissed in conversation, how his once-doting words became clipped and terse. What had been undying adoration turned to desperation for any way out. She started going on missions for the Camarilla simply to get time away from her sire, meeting Abrams for the first time in Vienna as they chased down the Lasombra.

She was gone for three weeks. When she came back, she found that Chaz had replaced her with Donna. Now Chaz outright ignored her in favor of his newest progeny. It was out of jealousy, anger, and bitterness that she committed her crime, savoring the fury in her sire’s eyes when he found out. Even the threats of exposing her Vannevar did little to assuage her satisfaction with the blow she had dealt. And anyway, Nelli knew that Chaz was sentimental, even if he was pretentious and abusive. He wouldn’t expose her without a very, very compelling reason.

Abrams helped her out of the Camarilla and to Los Angeles, away from Chaz—he’d seen the Toreador’s propensity for cruelty and held no love for him. Nelli was grateful to him and pleased to see him rise to the barony. Now she had a new family. Victor was her best friend. She and Jasper—and now, she and Annabelle—bickered like siblings. Brad had no capacity to manipulate and was ever-so-willing to please. She was moving on from her past and felt no need to look back. Tormenting Chaz whenever he stopped by gave her great pleasure, and she felt that she had more of a future now with her coterie in L.A. than she’d ever had with him. She was free.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments and gentle criticism are always welcome! See you next week when the sun goes down over L.A. <3


End file.
